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Post by magentapea on Dec 26, 2014 14:33:36 GMT
I am tired of all the papers around my house! My DH is a hoarder wannabe and hates to throw away anything, especially bills. It's up to me to do something about it. Do I really need to keep every utility bill, credit card statement, mortgage statement, and medical bill forever? Is there a reason I shouldn't shred any of these, or at least scan them and shred the hard copy? How long should I keep these things?
Thanks.
Lisa
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Post by pierkiss on Dec 26, 2014 14:37:20 GMT
I think I once heard something about 7 years for old tax returns. So I keep all out bills, etc in a 2-3 inch binder. I have tabs separating each bill. Every month after I pay all the bills I hole punch it and put it on the top in the appropriate section. It's fast, easy, and the binder is stored in a cabinet so it's out of the way.
At the end of the year the bills are put into a closet in the basement on a shelf. In 7 years they will be shredded and tossed away. It works for me.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 22:43:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 14:39:52 GMT
I don't see why you couldn't scan them, but just make sure you have a back up copy and not just save them on your computer. I hate paper clutter too. I used to save everything, now I only save things for big-ticket purchases where I have a warranty. I don't itemize everything for tax deductions, so I don't save all the utility bills. But if you do itemize, you should save them for at least 3 years I think.
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Post by myshelly on Dec 26, 2014 14:42:41 GMT
Go paperless on everything you can - utilities, cable, credit cards. You don't need any of those papers.
I would keep medical bills if needed for tax purposes otherwise only until they're settled.
The only papers I save are taxes.
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christinec68
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,124 
Location: New York, NY
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Post by christinec68 on Dec 26, 2014 14:44:34 GMT
I don't keep any bills/credit card statements unless they are related to taxes, capital improvements or warranties. For the most part, bank and credit card statements are available online which can also be saved to your hard drive if you prefer to have them in your possession but not on paper. As far as medical paperwork, it depends on the nature of the treatment. I think for tax purposes you only need to keep things for 7 years but I have way more than that in tax returns.
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,151
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Post by lindas on Dec 26, 2014 14:59:05 GMT
I scan everything all my bill statements as I pay them then shred. My DH is a paper hoarder too and I hate filing so when I finally convinced him to let me scan it was so liberating. I went from three 4 drawer file cabinets to one nice furniture quality 2 drawer lateral cabinet for things I have to keep the originals of and have room to spare in that.
This is my system; I have a folder for everything then a sub-folder for each year so it's easy to go back and find something if I need it. If I could find the manual for appliances and such online then I downloaded it to the appropriate folder and if not I scanned the one I had and tossed the original. I have a great all in one printer that duplex scans so scanning manuals was easy.
You do need a backup system. DH almost had a heart attack when our computer died not long after I started doing it, he was convinced everything was lost. We have an external hard drive, use an offsite backup system and I also have everything on a thumb drive.
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Post by peaittsburgh on Dec 26, 2014 15:32:52 GMT
I bought the Neat scanner when it was a QVC TSV recently. It is pricey ~$300, but I really like it. It makes all of the scanned text searchable. I can search everything I scanned for "boots" or "Kohl's" and it will find every receipt/bill that matches.
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Post by maryland on Dec 26, 2014 16:05:38 GMT
My husband is the same! He keeps every bill forever! I tell him that he doesn't have to go back 20 yr.s. He may have thrown some out, not sure. Always ends in a disagreement when I get on him about his "hoarding"! (haha!). I try to tell him that it's easier to get to his important stuff if he gets rid of the extras
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on Dec 26, 2014 17:00:01 GMT
I like living on the edge so the only thing I keep past one year are my taxes. Everything else gets shredded after the first of the year.
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Post by ihaveonly1l on Dec 26, 2014 17:16:00 GMT
I went to the year in one binder system for 2014 and I love it. My goal for Christmas break is to go through my filling cabinet and shred everything (except taxes and my sons' IEP/school documents/report cards).
It makes so much more sense to have a binder and put everything in it for the year (by category and I only have 5) and then we can take that with us to our accountant when we get our taxes done).
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Nanner
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,963
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Post by Nanner on Dec 26, 2014 17:28:51 GMT
I have a notebook, with a page for each month. As a bill arrives, the amount is written down. I pay my bills twice a month, specific ones at the beginning and specific ones in the middle of the month. The amounts are already in there at bill paying time, so I don't have to hunt for anything.
The actual bills - I get as many as I can electronically. The paper ones, once entered in the notebook, are kept in a folder in my office and every 2 or 3 months I scan them and place them in the appropriate folder on my computer. After scanned, I shred the paper bills and that's it. The paper beast is under control!
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basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,615
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Post by basketdiva on Dec 26, 2014 17:35:38 GMT
I'm curious why so many people scan every bill they recieve. I have 2 folders on my desk- To be Paid" and "In Process".
I put bills in the folder once it is recieved and then every couple of days set the bills up for payment. I then place in the "process" folder. Once the payment clears my bank, I shred the bill. If it is tax related or FSA related, I file it in the cabinet.
I do like to compare utility usage so I use the memo section of Quicken to enter that info every month. I see no reason to keep a copy of recurring bills once they have been paid.
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Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Dec 26, 2014 17:44:35 GMT
I think I once heard something about 7 years for old tax returns. So I keep all out bills, etc in a 2-3 inch binder. I have tabs separating each bill. Every month after I pay all the bills I hole punch it and put it on the top in the appropriate section. It's fast, easy, and the binder is stored in a cabinet so it's out of the way. At the end of the year the bills are put into a closet in the basement on a shelf. In 7 years they will be shredded and tossed away. It works for me. I really like your storage idea. I have been trying to figure out a way to get them out of the shoe box in the closet. When we were in the trailer the built in desk had a file cabinet. Now we don't have a file cabinet and we haven't found one that we like for the price the stores want for them. |
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Post by melanell on Dec 26, 2014 17:57:17 GMT
I pay very nearly all of our bills online. So there are no paper bills to keep. And my cancelled checks for the few I actually mail out are archived online through my bank, so I can pull up and even print out a copy of those checks if I ever needed them for any reason at all.
We do keep old tax papers in our filing cabinet. And we keep insurance forms until one time period elapses and we pay the next installment. But that's mostly just to keep a handy reference for the terms of the insurance if need be.
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Post by eebud on Dec 26, 2014 18:08:19 GMT
When it comes to things like utility bills that I know I don't need long term, I put them in a box. I always put the newest in the front of the box. When the box is full, I take a big handful out of the back and get rid of them because I know they are old and I don't need them. Only one time do I remember needing to go back a few months on an electric bill. I noticed that my electric bill had been exactly the same amount 3 months in a row and now I had received a 4th bill that was again the same amount. I was not on a plan that I would pay the same amount every month. After looking closer at the most recent bill, I realized that for some reason, they had quit reading my meter a few months earlier and had been estimating my meter reading. I read my own meter and realized they had WAY over estimated. I pulled old bills and found where this had been done for a few months. It took about an hour on the phone with the electric company but when all was said and done, I ended up not having an electric bill at all for 2 months and part of the 3rd month.
When it comes to medical, one thing to keep in mind before tossing is how your portion of the bill was paid. Did you pay with an HSA or a HRA? You might want to keep the bill longer if you did because you may be asked for documentation of the bill to verify that it was legit to pay with one of those accounts. I am regularly asked for documentation for the HRA. DH will have an HSA beginning in 2015 and what I read was that the IRS could ask for proof of bills paid with the HSA.
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kelly8875
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,390
Location: Lost in my supplies...
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Post by kelly8875 on Dec 26, 2014 18:41:11 GMT
Unless it's an oddball bill, like medical or some misc contractor service, we get them all electronic. So I keep nothing after it's paid. There's no reason to for us. We don't need our medical bills for taxes, because nothing would qualify and be able to be counted anyway...so we get rid of them too. If we found we could use them, we would just contact the doctors/services used for copies.
I keep our taxes, and that's it.
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